After nearly 20 straight hours of travel, I'm surprisingly rested and eager to check out this place. I can see making an entire vacation of just Ushuaia. Besides the peaks that ring the city, the higher mountains of Chile lay just on the horizon, looking all the world like they were manufactured in Colorado and planted here.
So a few observations:
* It's about time I learn to speak at least some Spanish.
* I admit it, the women in Aregentina seem unproportionally beautiful in relation to the general population especially if you're partial to brunettes.
* Observation 1 was not (entirely) inspired by observation 2.
* Outside of my epic sleep coup on my long flight, normal plane sleep is a weird cross between Monday morning and being stuffed the very luggage you bring onboard.
* Yes, there are chickens randomly walking around.
Only about 24 hours left of Internet access, then no more from me till I get back!! Antarctica is right around the corner.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Comic book logic dictates that if Santa, the embodiment of good and charity, lives at the North Pole, then who lives at the South Pole? Is there some rotten young elf that flies through the summer sky and steals your valued possessions, rewarding only n'er-do-wells with brass knuckles? I'll report back once I've scoped the perimeter of Antarctica later this week (I acknowledge I'll be no where near the actual South Pole, but I've got tiny avian informants in tuxedos who may be able to pass along pertinent information).
So this will be my last post for a while as I'm on my mission (mark your calendars for my February 10th web return!) If I can post on the road (on the water?) I will.
One of the cool things about this trip is I was able to help get Paul L (of Daily Bugle fame) on board for the adventure! Because our charter has paid-for space that was going to be left vacant, NatHab asked if anybody might have a friend who could trade skills for a trip to Antarctica. Luckily, Paulie is a grade A computer nerd and we were able to barter building some micro-websites for a trip! It's gonna be awesome to have him on board; MEOW will be representin' at the ends of the earth.
'Tis a busy day here, so I'll keep it short. Hopefully I'll be able to post from Ushuaia, Argentina before I leave... until then, "Now go and rest our heroes!"
Great weekend for snow in Colorado! It was cold and windy as is to be expected in January but the powder was like silk--squeaky under foot, board and ski. We even had a nice little dusting in Boulder this morning. I woke up to the glow of orange light coming into my window, looking for all the world like a beam of sunset embers. However, even a dramatic sunrise wouldn't stream though a western facing window--it was merely the piles of powdery snow reflecting the pink-orange parking lot lights.
Waking up to mucho snow made me realize another one of the great thrills of kidhood is lost to this generation--waiting to hear the school closures on the radio. With the Internet, all you have to do is wake up and check online to see if school is open, closed, delayed or whatever. Gone is the giddy excitement while listening to the radio and eagerly awaiting the blessed announcement that mother nature had granted us kids a day of sweet freedom, unless of course we had to shovel the driveway. Because they listed the state of Connecticut schools in alphabetical order, Wolcott came really low on the list. The anticipation was slightly offset by the "Region 16" announcement, which always came before the Wolcott declaration--since region 16 (Prospect and Beacon Falls) kids shared a high school with us, chances were good that if they were cancelled, we were cancelled. Though nothing was guaranteed--once in a while they would have a cancellation while we in town only had a delay.
The whole ordeal was exciting and you could always gauge your chances by looking out the window. If there was only a little bit of snow, you might start to half-heartedly prepare while listening to the radio. It's a safe call because there's usually at least a delay and if there's not, you'd be slightly prepared. For the bold, the more strategic move was to stay in the sweet warmth of heavy blankets and hedge your bets that school was nixed. There may be no better sleep than the forbidden sleep of a snow day. When all the conditions lined up, you could sleep in for a while, take your time getting up then enjoy the bonanza of snow awaiting just outside your window. Nowadays, kids just slink out of bed, check online, update their Facebook profile and go back to sleep.
But maybe it's all for the best--even though I'm only inmy early 30's, I'm arming myself with all the appropriate gripes to be a certified old fart when the time comes.
So this will be my last post for a while as I'm on my mission (mark your calendars for my February 10th web return!) If I can post on the road (on the water?) I will.
One of the cool things about this trip is I was able to help get Paul L (of Daily Bugle fame) on board for the adventure! Because our charter has paid-for space that was going to be left vacant, NatHab asked if anybody might have a friend who could trade skills for a trip to Antarctica. Luckily, Paulie is a grade A computer nerd and we were able to barter building some micro-websites for a trip! It's gonna be awesome to have him on board; MEOW will be representin' at the ends of the earth.
'Tis a busy day here, so I'll keep it short. Hopefully I'll be able to post from Ushuaia, Argentina before I leave... until then, "Now go and rest our heroes!"
Monday, January 12, 2009
Great weekend for snow in Colorado! It was cold and windy as is to be expected in January but the powder was like silk--squeaky under foot, board and ski. We even had a nice little dusting in Boulder this morning. I woke up to the glow of orange light coming into my window, looking for all the world like a beam of sunset embers. However, even a dramatic sunrise wouldn't stream though a western facing window--it was merely the piles of powdery snow reflecting the pink-orange parking lot lights.
Waking up to mucho snow made me realize another one of the great thrills of kidhood is lost to this generation--waiting to hear the school closures on the radio. With the Internet, all you have to do is wake up and check online to see if school is open, closed, delayed or whatever. Gone is the giddy excitement while listening to the radio and eagerly awaiting the blessed announcement that mother nature had granted us kids a day of sweet freedom, unless of course we had to shovel the driveway. Because they listed the state of Connecticut schools in alphabetical order, Wolcott came really low on the list. The anticipation was slightly offset by the "Region 16" announcement, which always came before the Wolcott declaration--since region 16 (Prospect and Beacon Falls) kids shared a high school with us, chances were good that if they were cancelled, we were cancelled. Though nothing was guaranteed--once in a while they would have a cancellation while we in town only had a delay.
The whole ordeal was exciting and you could always gauge your chances by looking out the window. If there was only a little bit of snow, you might start to half-heartedly prepare while listening to the radio. It's a safe call because there's usually at least a delay and if there's not, you'd be slightly prepared. For the bold, the more strategic move was to stay in the sweet warmth of heavy blankets and hedge your bets that school was nixed. There may be no better sleep than the forbidden sleep of a snow day. When all the conditions lined up, you could sleep in for a while, take your time getting up then enjoy the bonanza of snow awaiting just outside your window. Nowadays, kids just slink out of bed, check online, update their Facebook profile and go back to sleep.
But maybe it's all for the best--even though I'm only inmy early 30's, I'm arming myself with all the appropriate gripes to be a certified old fart when the time comes.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Some of you may have seen the nutty wildfires that were whipping around in Boulder on the news. What a crazy day! Wind gusts were pushing 90 mph and the fire (in JANUARY!!??)was jumping everywhere in the dry grass. Yes, this is the same Boulder that was minus 15 about three weeks ago. Luckily, my house was about a mile from the worst of it but I had friends who were evacuated when the flames were less than 1/4 mile from their homes. Luckily, everything seems to be settling down and apart from a 65 degree day today, temps will be dropping soon and there may even be snow on Friday night.
Wildfires will happen, but generally not in winter. There were a few homes lost, which is sad of course, but luckily all the animals and people in the area are ok. Updates if anything else changes.
Wildfires will happen, but generally not in winter. There were a few homes lost, which is sad of course, but luckily all the animals and people in the area are ok. Updates if anything else changes.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Today is a bit of a sad day in the world of gaming as Electronic Gaming Monthly, aka EGM, will be shutting down for good. If you were a gamer in the early 90's, EGM was the best source for news and reviews. Long before the Internet spelled doom for most of the great print gaming mags, EGM was the closest thing to an unbiased source of genuine info written by gamers (nerds). I even had a freelance article published in EGM in 2000 on how to change NES batteries.
Actually, it's surprising that EGM lasted as long as they did. Despite being staffed by quality writers and editors, the transition to the web was especially poor as the bulk of EGM's online material was fused into the needlessly cumbersome 1up.com website. As a result, inferior competitors such as gamespot.com eventually took the online lead and never looked back. I still have many of the old late 80's and early 90's EGMs; out of loyalty to a good product I'd like to snag the final issue as well.
It's a tough time for career magazine writers and editors. While the evolution of the web is the obvious new outlet, there is no solid model in the way of income to maintain the same framework of print mags. As one who has seen their own magazine drop from the face of the Earth, my heart goes out to the EGM family--it was a good run, guys.
Happy 2009 to all 3 of you who read my blog! For my 500th post, I'd like to report some very, very good news. Over the holidays, my long-standing quest to indulge in the fudgie goodness of Carvel's signature cake came to an end. Yes, Fudgie the Whale has returned to my life. Amid much fanfare, my aunt Terry was able to find the elusive cetacean and lo, there was great feasting. Despite not being much a fudge fan in general, Fudgie was still every bit as scrumptious as I remember him. I had to save a slice for my cousin David, who had joined me over the past few years on our futile efforts to locate Fudgie. Until we meet again Fudgie, you are indeed delicious.
I was planning on writing a wrap up for the year 2008, but I realize I had forgotten most of the interesting stuff that didn't involve setting high scores in F-Zero GX or getting attacked by a marmot. I got my truck, which was pretty awesome. Wrecked my shoulder, which was considerably less awesome. Got my new mountain bike and reviewed 50 lawn mowers. Did I mention Fudgie? Beat a couple of cups in Super Mario Strikers on legend with Marc and David. Had some awesome mountain hikes with Sheila and Mystic. Adopted my new "no noses" diet. And perhaps most importantly, I found out Who Killed Rover.
And a whole bunch of other stuff. Actually, as I write this I'm gradually going through 200+ emails from work so I should get back to it. Here's to hoping 2009 (my 10 anniversary in Boulder, by the way) is every bit as Fudgie as 2008!
Actually, it's surprising that EGM lasted as long as they did. Despite being staffed by quality writers and editors, the transition to the web was especially poor as the bulk of EGM's online material was fused into the needlessly cumbersome 1up.com website. As a result, inferior competitors such as gamespot.com eventually took the online lead and never looked back. I still have many of the old late 80's and early 90's EGMs; out of loyalty to a good product I'd like to snag the final issue as well.
It's a tough time for career magazine writers and editors. While the evolution of the web is the obvious new outlet, there is no solid model in the way of income to maintain the same framework of print mags. As one who has seen their own magazine drop from the face of the Earth, my heart goes out to the EGM family--it was a good run, guys.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Happy 2009 to all 3 of you who read my blog! For my 500th post, I'd like to report some very, very good news. Over the holidays, my long-standing quest to indulge in the fudgie goodness of Carvel's signature cake came to an end. Yes, Fudgie the Whale has returned to my life. Amid much fanfare, my aunt Terry was able to find the elusive cetacean and lo, there was great feasting. Despite not being much a fudge fan in general, Fudgie was still every bit as scrumptious as I remember him. I had to save a slice for my cousin David, who had joined me over the past few years on our futile efforts to locate Fudgie. Until we meet again Fudgie, you are indeed delicious. I was planning on writing a wrap up for the year 2008, but I realize I had forgotten most of the interesting stuff that didn't involve setting high scores in F-Zero GX or getting attacked by a marmot. I got my truck, which was pretty awesome. Wrecked my shoulder, which was considerably less awesome. Got my new mountain bike and reviewed 50 lawn mowers. Did I mention Fudgie? Beat a couple of cups in Super Mario Strikers on legend with Marc and David. Had some awesome mountain hikes with Sheila and Mystic. Adopted my new "no noses" diet. And perhaps most importantly, I found out Who Killed Rover.
And a whole bunch of other stuff. Actually, as I write this I'm gradually going through 200+ emails from work so I should get back to it. Here's to hoping 2009 (my 10 anniversary in Boulder, by the way) is every bit as Fudgie as 2008!
